This issue marks the first anniversary of Liberation newspaper. A look over the last 26 issues gives a sense of the tremendous challenges that revolutionaries face today, as well as a sense of the developing people’s movement that is growing in response to U.S. imperialism—both within the United States and around the globe.
One year ago, we wrote: “There are many stories to be told, many myths to be exposed and many struggles to be waged. We want the bright-red logo of Liberation to be at the center of them all.”
Liberation has carried on our party’s extensive and thorough analysis of the criminal occupation of Iraq and the quagmire facing the U.S. ruling class. In addition to exposing the reality of the “surge” strategy, we have alerted our readers to upcoming anti-war activities, and provided reports and photos from demonstrations across the country, large and small. As part of our anti-war coverage, Liberation has featured a monthly column from Michael Prysner, an anti-imperialist veteran of the Iraq war who is currently running for Congress in Florida as a candidate of the PSL.
Another year of imperialist war abroad has been matched by another year of racist violence and repression here at home. Our paper reported from the front lines of the struggles to free the Jena Six, and to free political prisoners like Mumia Abu-Jamal, the Cuban Five and the San Francisco 8. Unlike the capitalist media, our paper has reported on police brutality as a nationwide and relentless phenomenon in Black and Latino communities—not a case of a few “bad apples.”
The pages of Liberation have also been increasingly oriented towards the deepening economic crisis, which threatens the already-unstable livelihood of tens of millions of workers in this country and billions worldwide. The last six months in particular have ripped the mask off of the capitalist class, which has scrambled to organize relief for its multibillion-dollar corporations while leaving the working class to suffer through homelessness, unemployment and hunger.
Over the last year, we have run a series on the “crimes of capitalism” that has reported up-close on specific incidents of corporate greed, workplace abuse and environmental destruction. Taken together, it is clear that these crimes—far from being exceptions—in fact characterize the present social order.
We declared our intent in the first issue of the paper “not only to tell the untold stories and struggles of our class, not only to agitate, but also to organize.”
Every aspect of our newspaper—its writing, editing, production, design and distribution, including on the Internet—is intimately connected with building and strengthening the Party for Socialism and Liberation as a struggle-tested, working-class party.
In that sense, the best way to review the last year of Liberation is to look at the growth and development of the PSL.
This year—as a sign of our rapid development—our party decided to take on an enormous task. We decided to intervene in the capitalist elections, to run Gloria La Riva for president and Eugene Puryear for vice president, and to run PSL members for local, state and federal offices. The electoral system is not the final arena of struggle for the working class. But it is where the attention of workers is inevitably drawn this year.
Our newspaper has served as the voice of the “Vote PSL” campaigns, carrying statements from candidates and reporting on the struggles in which they engage as activists and revolutionaries. In this issue, we have a chart that compares the health care plans of the capitalist candidates with that of PSL candidate Gloria La Riva. Very few newspapers provide such a clear breakdown of the capitalist candidates’ plans, exposing the gap between their rhetoric and the reality.
This is the type of newspaper that we want to put in every worker’s hands to help the members of our class see through the fog of the electoral season. In that spirit, we are closing the first year of our publication with a special subscription offer. A one-year subscription is now half price, only $15. We hope you take a moment to fill out the subscription form, and encourage all of your friends to subscribe as well.
We also hope that you, the reader, have benefited from our articles and analysis. We welcome all constructive feedback and criticism. Above all, we hope that reading this newspaper will inspire you to join the struggle.
The cover of our first issue was emblazoned with the headline “Socialism Will Win!” We put this on our cover not because we thought such a victory was imminent or easily achievable. Rather, that declaration reflects our belief that we are not fighting in vain—the era of imperialist wars, ghastly inequality and chauvinism will be replaced with a system that puts human needs and international solidarity first. Join us in the fight, and get involved with the Party for Socialism and Liberation.
